AS WEST Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron heads to Guyana on his Caribbean-wide town-hall meetings, stakeholders of the game locally are hoping to have several longstanding issues addressed. Cameron will be in Guyana tomorrow at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) pavilion, as part of his WICB’s continued effort to give regional cricket fans and administrators alike, a chance to ask questions and make comments about the sport and how the region can merge its efforts to make the cricket industry more viable than it has been.
The Guyana Cricket Association (GCA), Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB) and the Upper Demerara Cricket Association (UDCA), believe that with the prolonged crisis in Guyana’s cricket, it is incumbent on the WICB to ensure that there is legality and accountability of its Member Boards in accordance with the rules of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
It’s no secret that the aforementioned quartet had over the last couple of years been feuding with the current GCB administration over their publically documented issues in the sport.
In fact, a few Court injunctions were served by the parties mentioned against the GCB and the board in recent times responded with a few of its own, forcing the Government of Guyana under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), to pass the country’s first Cricket Administration Act.
The ‘Cricket Stakeholders’ in a release said that they have many times before recorded their extreme disquiet regarding the continuous refusal of the WICB to meet with the legal and constituent members of Guyana Cricket, instead of, in a self-serving manner, dealing only with a few persons who are holding themselves as executive members of the GCB.
Cameron and vice-president Emmanuel Nanthan will continue to host the town-hall meetings, which started in Barbados in May and were also staged in Dominica last month.
“We want to re-engage our major stakeholders,” said Cameron. “We want the public to become part of the decision-making and their inputs can prove to be valuable.
“We’re enthusiastic about continuing to use these sessions to listen to concerns and share information about where West Indies cricket is now, our strategic goals for the future and how the fans can impact upon the way we progress.”
The topics covered at the town-hall meetings have been wide-ranging. They have included selection matters, the operation of the WICB Professional Cricket League, player relations, player development, pitch preparation and governance issues.